Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Port of Los Angeles’ Trade Connect
program has earned the nation’s highest honor for promoting American export
trade, the President’s “E Star” Award for Export Service. The port was among
the 2013 honorees recognized for export sales or service during a May 20
ceremony at US Department of Commerce’s Washington, DC headquarters.

Trade Connect is an outreach program that
offers a series of workshops to small and midsize American companies to educate
them on the opportunities, costs and requirements of exporting their goods and
services.

Training ranges from introductory courses
on the basics of commercial transactions, foreign markets, financing,
documentation and logistics, to advanced seminars on international demand for
specific products and emerging global consumer markets.

The Port LA launched Trade Connect in 2007
in response to the imbalance between US spending on foreign goods and sales of
US products to international markets. This imbalance is reflected in ships
leaving the port with load factors generally lower than 50 percent.

Since its inception, Trade Connect has held
more than 150 workshops and events attended by more than 15,000 people,
according to the POLA. The program also has participated in trade shows in Hong
Kong and Japan and has drawn nearly 5,000 people to exhibits showcasing
California companies and their products.

“It is organizations like the Port of Los
Angeles that are strengthening the economies of local communities, creating
jobs and contributing to the worldwide demand for ‘Made in the USA’ goods and
services,” US Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank, who presented the
award, said.

Port Deputy Executive Director of
Development Mike Christensen and Director of Trade Development Jim MacLellan,
who started and manages the Trade Connect program, accepted the award in Washington,
DC on the port’s behalf.

US companies are nominated for the “E”
Award through the Department of Commerce’s US and Foreign Commercial Service
office network, located within the Department’s International Trade
Administration, which helps US exporters. Qualifications for the award include
four years of successive export growth and case studies which demonstrate
valuable support to exporters resulting in increased exports for the company’s
clients.

Monday’s ceremony marked the second time
the Port of Los Angeles has received the “E Star” Award for excellence in
promoting export trade. President Ronald Reagan awarded the honor to the port
in 1983.

Crowley Maritime Corp. received the award
for Comprehensive Environmental Management Programs during the annual Marine
Environmental Business Awards May 16 in Seattle, and other local and regional
companies and individuals were also honored during the event.

The awards spotlight maritime industry businesses
in the Pacific Northwest for their environmental leadership and commitment to and
support of Port of Seattle anti-pollution initiatives.

Crowley Maritime was lauded by the awards’
sponsors for the company’s early interest in keeping Puget Sound waters clean as
well as its strong culture of environmental stewardship, which began decades
ago with a commitment to spill management. The company’s ongoing environmental
leadership has been recognized over the years by national and local
governments, as well as major ports on the US West Coast.

This year’s award for Environmental
Initiatives went to Harley Marine Services for its new energy efficient and
environmentally friendly world headquarters, the Harley and Lela Franco
Maritime Center. Among other environmental features, the facility is Gold LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, demonstrating the
company’s commitment to continual improvement in environmental performance.

The awards were presented at the 62nd
Annual Maritime Festival Luncheon during the annual Seattle Maritime Festival,
which is sponsored by Vigor Industrial, the Port of Seattle and the Seattle
Propeller Club.

The Seattle Propeller Club also presented
annual awards recognizing leadership in the maritime community during the
luncheon. The winner of the 2013 Puget Sound Maritime Achievement Award was Marine
Exchange of Puget Sound Executive Director Capt. John Veentjer, who was
recognized for his long and distinguished career.

The Propeller Club’s 2013 Public Official
of the Year Award is Capt. John Dwyer, Officer In Charge, Marine Inspection and
the Chief of the Inspection Division at US Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.

The award recognizes the contributions and
support of a local, state, or federal policymaker or official who has
demonstrated an understanding and appreciation for the maritime industry and
those who earn a living from it.

Port of Seattle container volumes were down
27.8 percent in April 2013 vs. the same month in 2012 and down 21.6 percent
year-to-date, according to the port, with the cause being attributed to the
lingering effects of Seattle’s loss of the Grand Alliance of shipping lines last
summer.

Seattle terminals saw a total of 130,426 TEUs
last month, compared with more than 180,700 in April 2012, according to
newly-released port data. For the year to date, the port has seen 518,390 TEUs,
compared with 660,844 during the same four months last year.

In July 2012, the Alliance began three new
calls each week at the Port of Tacoma’s Washington United Terminals.

Since the shift, Tacoma has seen
year-over-year container volume increases while Seattle has experienced the
opposite. The shift is expected to impact Port of Seattle year-over-year
container volume comparisons until mid-year.

With the Grand Alliance volume shift
factored out however, Seattle says its full inbound volumes were up 2.8 percent
in April, and that full outbound volumes are up 4.3 percent for the year to
date.

As a region, the ports of Seattle and
Tacoma were down 6.0 percent for April 2013 vs. 2012 and up 1.4 percent YTD,
according to data.

The Port of Long Beach says it is
instituting a new energy policy to increase its efficiency, conservation,
resiliency and renewable energy.

“When we look at our future energy demands
due to shore power, zero-emissions programs and more, it’s imperative that we
increase our energy security,” Harbor Commissioner Rich Dines, Chair of the
Commission’s Energy Subcommittee, said. “This energy policy will guide the
creation of an energy program that will improve the environment and business
continuity at the port.”

The port says the energy policy was created
in anticipation of increasing demand for electricity at Long Beach with air
quality improvement programs such as shoreside power, which allows massive
cargo ships to shut down diesel engines and plug into landside electricity
while at berth.

In coming years, the port says, air quality
efforts will continue to fuel demand for electricity at the port, as will the
introduction of cutting-edge marine terminal equipment that runs on electricity
and not diesel fuel.

“Just as our environmental initiatives have
changed the way we think about construction, operations, maintenance and
properties, this energy policy adds another lens we look through when making
decisions as it relates to energy in the future,” port Director of
Environmental Planning Rick Cameron said. “We want to be efficient and we want
to be innovative, because this keeps us competitive.”

The program will also look at improving
ways to keep the port operating in the event of a crisis that could impact the
flow of electricity to the port.

Long Beach says it will collaborate its
efforts with port tenants, utilities, other city departments, industry
stakeholders, labor unions, the Port of Los Angeles and others.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The move toward using liquid natural gas (LNG) as a marine
fuel is continuing to gain momentum as new environmental regulations are
enacted and bunkering facilities are expanded. According to a recent forecast
by MEC Intelligence, a market insight firm that focuses on the maritime sector,
nearly 10,000 vessels could be adopting LNG propulsion by 2020 compared to less
than 100 today. Prior to MEC’s forecast, classification society Det Norske had
predicted that LNG would become the dominant fuel source for all merchant ships
within 40 years. The reason for such growth is strict emission regulations
requiring the reduction of sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) to 0.1
percent in Emission Control Areas (ECAs) by 2015 and 0.5 percent globally by
2020. The key compliance options available for vessel operators are either
adoption of new types of fuel, such as LNG or low sulphur marine gasoil, or by
using “scrubber” technology on existing heavy fuel oil (HFO) burning
powerplants. LNG, besides becoming cheaper as new sources are opened up through
fracking, cuts carbon emissions by about 25 percent, SOx by almost 100 percent
and NOx by 85 percent. However, other technologies are also being explored.
These include the use of liquid hydrogen as a fuel to generate power within a
combined fuel cell and battery system as well as solar panel and automated sail
systems. At the same time a new range of extremely efficient low-speed
two-stroke diesel engines is being introduced as more operators take up slow
steaming.

Latest LNG Ships

To date, LNG use has been restricted to smaller vessels
operating rather short runs due to the large size of fuel tanks required and
the few bunkering facilities available. Because of this, most development has
centered in northern Europe where some LNG bunkering capability was established
for the offshore oil industry and local ferry businesses several years ago. In
2011 Sweden’s Tarbit Shipping placed its LNG-burning product tanker Bit Viking
in service along the Norwegian coast after repowering the 25,000-dwt ship with
Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines. Last year the world’s first LNG-powered
coaster, the 2,650-dwt fish food carrier Høydal, also began operating off
Norway. At the same time Stavanger-based Island Offshore christened the 96-meter-long
Island Crusader as the world’s first PSV to use fully dedicated LNG-burning
main engines. Earlier this year Finland’s Viking Line began operating the
56,000-gt cruise ferry Viking Grace between Turku and Stockholm using dual-fuel
main engines burning LNG as the dominant fuel. Later this year Buksér og
Berging AS of Norway will place the world’s first LNG-fueled tugboats into
operation at Norwegian ports.

Geographical Expansion

Although Norway has been a significant innovator of LNG
propulsion the trend has been expanding internationally, with Italy’s Lauro
Shipping recently entering into an agreement that will see a series of gas
powered passenger/auto ferries developed for Mediterranean use based on
Rolls-Royce’s “Environship” program. This will be the first use of the
Environship concept in a passenger vessel and the design will include
LNG-burning Bergen engines as well as wave piercing bows and combination Promas
propeller/rudder systems, the latter to enhance both fuel efficiency and
maneuverability.

In Australia, Incat Tasmania Pty Ltd has already completed
the world’s first LNG-burning high speed passenger/auto ferry for operation by
South America’s Buquebus on the Buenos Aires - Montevideo run. The 50-knot
vessel, with a capacity of 1,000 passengers and 140 vehicles, is the first high
speed commercial craft to be powered by gas turbines using LNG as the primary
fuel, while marine distillate is retained for standby and ancillary use.

In North America, Canada’s Société des traversiers du Québec
(STQ) has ordered an 800-passenger/180-car LNG-powered ferry from Italy’s
Financtieri for delivery in late 2014. Designed to operate on the St. Lawrence
River, it will be North America’s first ferry to be powered by LNG, although
Washington State Ferries, BC Ferries and New York’s Staten Island Ferries have
all announced plans to begin using the fuel through retrofit programs.

LNG Container Ships

In the commercial cargo sector Seattle’s Totem Ocean Trailer
Express (TOTE) surprised the world’s shipping community last year when it
ordered two 3,100-TEU LNG-fueled container carriers from the General Dynamics
NASSCO shipyard at San Diego. The twin ships will operate on the relatively
short run between the US mainland and Puerto Rico when delivered in 2015 and 2016.
South Korea’s DSEC, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine
Engineering (DSME), is assisting TOTE in the design of the vessels and will
provide a patented LNG fuel-gas propulsion system for the ships. This system
incorporates the MAN ME-GI dual-fuel main engine, which works by simultaneously
burning HFO and LNG. In the minimum fuel and maximum gas mode, around 10
percent of the fuel burned is oil.

DSME has also been working with CMA-CGM of France on the
design of a much larger 14,000-TEU vessel that would incorporate the MAN ME-GI
engine but with a higher output of 72,285 kW. Capable of being employed on long
haul routes, the ship would be fitted with a 22,490-cubic-meter capacity LNG
storage tank and a 4,430-cubic-meter capacity heavy fuel tank to give a sailing
range of approximately 25,000 miles. Although there would be a loss of cargo
space equivalent to about 440 TEUs for the two fuel tanks this would be more
than offset by the enhanced fuel economies and lower emissions achieved.

LNG Tankers

LNG carriers have long been using LNG as a fuel by simply
using their own cargo’s “boil off” gas but Dutch shipping company Anthony Veder
is now having a pair of 4700-cubic-meter capacity Liquefied Ethylene Gas
(LEG)/Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tankers built in China that will use LNG as
a fuel but will not transport it as a cargo. To be completed by China’s
Avic-Dingheng Shipbuilding Co. Ltd for operation in the North Sea when
delivered toward the middle of next year the twin 99.95-meter by 17.20-meter vessels
will make use of a propulsion package being furnished by Wärtsilä in which the
main and auxiliary engines will be capable of operating on both LNG and marine
diesel. The LNG fuel will be carried in two deck-mounted tanks, each holding
approximately 100 cubic meters or about 53,000 gallons. The dual-fuel
technology will allow the ships to sail without restriction in Sulphur Emission
Control Areas (SECAs) and Nitrogen Emission Control Areas (NECAs).

Wärtsilä is also developing a new 117,000-dwt Aframax tanker
design that would be propelled by the company’s heavy fuel oil (HFO) burning
two-stroke X62 engine. In this case, an integrated Wärtsilä exhaust gas
scrubber would be incorporated, with the main engine, auxiliary engines and
auxiliary boilers all exhausting through it in conjunction with a Selective
Catalytic Reduction system installed before the main engine turbocharger. These
systems would effectively reduce NOx emissions and sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions
to such an extent that the vessel could meet the upcoming 0.1 percent sulfur
limit to be imposed in 2015, even while burning HFO having a sulfur content of
3.5 percent.

LNG Bulk Carriers

Although no LNG-fueled bulk carriers have been built yet the
first order may be just around the corner. Last year Lloyd’s Register gave
Approval in Principle (AIP) to a new “Clean Sky” bulk carrier design that would
feature a gas-powered propulsion system. The design was drawn up by Chinese
shipbuilder COSCO and Greek shipowner Golden Union in cooperation with Lloyd’s.
The initial design focus of the project was on a 290-meter-long, 81,000-dwt
Kamsarmax bulker that would offer shipowners the flexibility to choose dual, or
tri-fuel engines able to burn heavy fuel oil (HFO) or diesel, as well as LNG.
The LNG would be carried in a single, 1,160 cubic meter capacity type-C tank
that would sit aft on the vessel’s port side. The fuel would be fed to a MAN
B&W 6S60ME C-8.2 – GI Tier II main engine that would give a service speed
of 14 knots.

Lloyd’s noted that, to date, LNG-as-fuel research,
technology development and newbuilding activities have focused on specific
niche sectors such as ferries, offshore vessels and short sea or inland trades
but that the Clean Sky project “paves the way” for take-up in the deep sea bulk
trades. “This moves the industry far beyond the concept stage,” said Nick
Brown, Lloyd’s Register Area General Manager and Marine Manager, Greater China,
who noted that the AIP came only after exhaustive risk investigations by
Lloyd’s into the gas containment and bunkering systems. COSCO, an experienced
builder of Kamsarmax ships, feels it is now ready to build an LNG-powered
bulker and its first customer may likely be Golden Union.

LNG Cruise Ships

LNG is also being looked at in the cruise sector and
Finland’s Wärtsilä has come up with several ship designs that feature LNG
propulsion. Last year Wärtsilä introduced the design of a 65,000-gt ship that
followed an earlier project, accomplished in cooperation with shipbuilder STX
Europe, covering a larger 125,000-gt vessel. The Finnish company said it chose
the smaller size this time around because it sees an increasing demand for such
tonnage among both large and small operators.

Beyond dual-fuel diesel/electric drive, which would see LNG
tanks situated below the ship’s lido area at the stern, and shafted rather than
podded drive, the Wärtsilä cruiser would feature a hull beam of 141.5 feet
(43.2m) to give better stability and allow the construction of higher cabin
decks. However, the superstructure of the proposed vessel would be abbreviated
in length, thus requiring only four main fire zones while providing space aft
for a low open deck with a large swimming pool. A service speed of 19 knots
would be furnished by two 8MW electric propulsion motors driving fixed-pitch
propellers. Power would be generated by two Wärtsilä 6L50DF and two Wärtsilä
8L50DF main engines. These would run primarily on LNG, but with marine diesel
as a standby.

Safe Bunkering

The Wärtsilä cruise ship’s LNG would be stored in three
double-walled tanks, each with a capacity of 465 cubic meters, housed in the
stern area below the pool deck and between the tender boats. In this location
the 35-meter length of the tanks would not interfere with the ship’s required
watertight bulkheads. As the average daily LNG consumption for a typical cruise
would be about 45 tons, or 105 cubic meters, the vessel would be able to make a
12-day cruise without refueling. LNG bunkering would be accomplished via the
open mooring deck at the stern while tank ventilation would be through a pipe
running to the top end of the superstructure and venting at more than 10 meters
above the uppermost deck. The stern location for the tanks is considered
beneficial from a safety standpoint because there would be no cabins located
above the bunkering station and large windscreens around the pool area would
prevent passengers from accidentally creating a source of ignition by tossing
cigarettes or matches overboard. Nevertheless, Wärtsilä realizes that the
technology involved in the LNG bunkering process must be foolproof and that a
network of safe LNG bunkering stations must still be created in the proposed
operational areas before its LNG-powered “clean cruiser” can head to sea.

First LNG Bunkering Tanker

A prototype operation for bunkering LNG-fueled passenger
ships has already started in Europe where the world’s first LNG bunkering
tanker, Seagas, has been delivering fuel to the world’s largest LNG-powered
ferry, the 2,800-passenger Viking Grace, since February. Prior to its
conversion by the Fiskerstrand BLRT yard in Norway Seagas was the local
1974-built car ferry Fjalir. Now equipped with a single 170 cubic meter
cryogenic storage tank, the little tanker moves LNG from Linde’s LNG’s
processing facility near Nynäshamn, Sweden to the Port of Stockholm where the
56,000-gt Viking Grace is refueled at the end of nearly every round-trip with
70 tons of gas transferred in 60 minutes. Until the arrival of Seagas,
refueling of the ferry had been done by road tanker but this was considered an
unsatisfactory method due to safety and environmental concerns. While Viking
Grace can make three round-trips between Stockholm and Turku, Finland without
re-fueling, Seagas has been refueling the ship six days a week.

Operations were temporarily shut down at the Port of Oakland
on May 17 after a truck being driven by a longshore worker was apparently
knocked into the water by a piece of machinery.

Longshoreman Manuel Stimpson, 78, of San Francisco had
worked at the port for about 47 years when he was killed after the truck
plunged into the San Francisco Bay.

“He’s a very loved man, he’s like a father to all of us,”
Frank Gaskin, a business agent with International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Local 10 said of Stimpson following the accident.

According to ILWU representatives, Stimpson was working as a
clerk and helping direct the placement of containers when the truck went into
the water near Berth 30 at the TraPac terminal at 1:36 pm.

The vehicle became stuck in the mud about 50 feet below
surface and it wasn’t until about 2:40 pm that port divers were able to pull
his body from the truck, according to police. The submerged truck was also
recovered.

As is traditional in incidents that result in fatalities,
the ILWU suspended work at the port for 24 hours following the accident.

The occurrence is under investigation by the union and the
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state governmental
body commonly known as Cal/OSHA.

Last week’s death was the second fatal accident at the port
in seven months. In October 2012, a mechanic performing maintenance on a crane
died Oct. 24 after being caught in and crushed by a piece of heavy equipment.
Prior to that, however, there hadn’t been an incident at the port resulting in
a fatality in at least five years, according to Cal/OSHA.

The Sacramento-Yolo Port Commission, which operates the Port
of West Sacramento, has negotiated a new master lease of its West Sacramento
maritime facilities with terminal operator SSA Pacific. The new lease, which
takes effect July 1, 2013, replaces an existing terminal operations management contract
between the two parties.

The new master lease shifts all maritime-related operational
expenses to SSA. The port says this now enables it to reduce administrative
costs and focus on development of its real estate assets.

“We’re redefining and redesigning the port and this is a
critical first step,” Port Commission Chair Mike McGowan said during the
commission’s May 15 meeting.

The lease is for a minimum of five years and can be extended
by five-year increments to a maximum of 20 years. Minimum annual rent payments
to the port start at $650,000, however the lease provides for additional
revenues to the port as shipping tonnage increases.

Also part of the agreement, the port is relieved of $850,000
in existing debt to SSA, and SSA agrees to purchase the port’s existing air
credits related to bulk cargo handling for $50,000.

“The new lease arrangements will allow SSA to further expand
our role, attract new investment, and increase business through the port, which
will be good for the City of West Sacramento and increase jobs in the area,”
SSA President Mark Knudsen said in a statement.

May 22 is the deadline to apply for the open Chief Operating
Officer position within the Oxnard Harbor District, which owns and operates
Port of Hueneme.

The Chief Operations Officer oversees the Harbor District’s
Maritime Operations Division and is responsible for managing the day to day
activities of the maritime interests of the District and providing feed back to
the CEO and Port Director regarding operations and management of the marine
terminal systems, operations and facilities.

The COO’s responsibilities also include management of the
marine terminal operations, services and contracts for the accommodation and
promotion of commerce, navigation, or fishery in the Harbor District. The COO’s
focus is on strategic, tactical, and short-term operations management. The
person chosen for the position will be responsible for the design, operation,
and improvement of the marine terminal systems and facilities that support the Harbor
District’s maritime customers and users.

The annual salary range is between roughly $106,700 and
$169,000. Applicants must submit a cover letter and resume and provide five
references. Applications can be dropped off in person or sent via email, fax or
the US Postal Service.

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EDITORIAL

Pacific Maritime Magazine California Contributing Editor Karen Robes Meeks spent several years covering the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California for the Long Beach Press-Telegram and our sister publication Fishermen’s News.